Here's something you'll never hear a recently-hired head coach say at his press conference, particularly if he's taking over for a previous staff who was fired by the administration: "You know, from what I've heard I think the workouts were too difficult. Our guys will wake up later and work lighter under my watch."
No, strength workouts move in one direction -- harder, earlier, more grueling.
Such is the case at Kansas, where head coach Les Miles inherited a Jayhawks program a decade removed from its last winning season. Workouts begin at 5:55 a.m. -- sharp! -- and effort is monitored. Each rep is timed, and those who do not finish or are significantly behind previous times are "dinged." Those who do not touch the appropriate line are dinged. Those who do not hold the proper posture when not in a drill are also dinged.
The scrutiny didn’t end there, though. MacVittie said the whole coaching staff would watch video footage of the conditioning sessions “for two hours” after each one concluded. Each and every drill and every last Jayhawk was accounted for, thanks to the multiple cameras that captured every second of it from every feasible angle.
But that's not all. Evaluations of each workout don't end at said workout's conclusion. No, they continue until the Kansas coaches have finished watching film of the workout. From KU quarterback Thomas MacVittie's interview with Lawrence World-Journal:
The scrutiny didn’t end there, though. MacVittie said the whole coaching staff would watch video footage of the conditioning sessions “for two hours” after each one concluded. Each and every drill and every last Jayhawk was accounted for, thanks to the multiple cameras that captured every second of it from every feasible angle.
A million details must be changed to get Kansas from 3-9 to 9-3 -- which, by the way, is tied for KU's best season since 2009 -- and it appears Miles and his staff will pay attention to every... single... one of them.